POTENTIAL TSUNAMI HAZARD RELATED TO THE SEISMIC ACTIVITY EAST OF MAYOTTE ISLAND, COMOROS ARCHIPELAGO

Abstract

On May 13, 2018, a seismic swarm began to occur east of Mayotte Island, Comoros Archipelago. Only two days after, a strong Mw 5.9 earthquake shook the island and awakened the fears of local people to be struck by a tsunami, in the aftermath of the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean event. This paper does not claim to represent a detailed tsunami hazard study, but tries to provide keys about the potential of tsunami generation in the area, explaining point by point the capacity of each source, earthquake, submarine volcanic eruption and landslide to produce perturbation of the sea. Numerical modelling of landslide is presented herein to discuss the relative immunity offered by the coral barrier reef to the island populated coastline to moderate scenarios

Keywords

• Tsunami Hazard
• Seismic Activity
• MAYOTTE ISLAND
• COMOROS ARCHIPELAGO